The car industry has always tested on animals – but this is different

Lapik (pictured) is understood to have survived his brief visit to space in 1997, but two decades later corporations are still experimenting on sad, confused animals to increase their profitability Credit:
ITAR TASS /AP

The addition of ten macaques to the growing cast of Dieselgate has propelled the ongoing scandal to a new dimension this week. Apparently, a research organisation backed by several German car manufacturers saw fit to cram said monkeys into small glass chambers, which were then attached by hose to the exhaust pipe of a Volkswagen.

It’s horrid, especially if you read the upsetting details published in Bild. The experiment didn’t kill the animals but seems to have claimed the job of VW’s chief lobbyist Thomas Steg, who was suspended after it transpired that he knew about the tests when they were taking place. Everyone else, including Daimler and BMW, are trying hard to distance themselves from the project. So far, so corporate.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the motor car has been developed using animal testing. Automotive research in the 20th Century killed tens of thousands of...